El «espíritu» en la ética

The UK has a large natural resource of marine energy which, if harnessed using cost-effective wave and tidal stream devices, has the potential to deliver over 10% of the UK’s forecast electricity needs in 2050. A third marine energy technology, tidal range, is comparatively mature and is not considered to be a strategic priority for public innovation support.

There are more wave and tidal stream devices being tested in the UK than anywhere else in the world. The UK is home to world-class marine energy test facilities, including the European Marine Energy Centre, the National Renewable Energy Centre, Wave Hub, the Falmouth Bay Test Site, and the wave tanks at Plymouth University’s Marine Building. However, marine energy systems are still at the relatively early stages of development and there are significant challenges to overcome, including cost reductions, before full commercialisation can be achieved. Increased confidence in the industry is needed to attract sufficient commercial funding. Wave and tidal stream technologies are at different levels of

maturity: leading tidal stream devices are reaching first deployment in small-scale

arrays, while wave energy requires further optimisation and testing of devices to build confidence on costs, reliability and operation.

Potential for Innovation

Innovation to reduce costs and improve performance is crucial for marine energy technologies. With cost-competitive technology and a supportive international policy framework, a global market in marine energy could emerge. The UK is currently well positioned to capture a sizable share of this potential market, by capitalising on our strong R&D and supply base and leveraging our early investment in infrastructure and industrial capacity. Success in marine energy could save the energy system £2.8bn (range of £0-5bn) and contribute £1.4bn (range of £0-4.3bn) to GDP by 2050 (Table 12).

Table 12: Potential of innovation up to 2050 (cumulative, discounted)

Deployment scenario Low Medium High

Global deployment by 2050 Wave 0 GW 46 GW 188 GW

Tidal 0 GW 13 GW 52 GW

UK deployment by 2050 Wave 0 GW 4 GW 8 GW

Tidal 0 GW 2.5 GW 5 GW

Cost reduction potential for UK Wave £0 £1.6bn £3.0bn

Tidal £0 £1.2bn £2.0bn

Value creation potential for UK Wave £0 £0.9bn £3.0bn

Tidal £0 £0.5bn £1.3bn

Objectives

The TINA estimated that the current costs of marine energy are of the order of £200- 300/MWh for tidal stream and £350-400/

MWh for wave energy.38 _{Investment in}

innovation, including an increasing scale of demonstration combined with targeted R&D, is required to enable the delivery of

38 _{In the Electricity Market Reform Delivery Plan (published December 2013), the Contracts for Difference}

(CfD) Strike Prices for both tidal stream and wave energy were set at £305/MWh (in 2012 prices). This reflected the treatment of Strike Prices across the Renewables Obligation (RO) technologies, which used prices equivalent to RO levels adjusted for system efficiency savings from the CfD.

cost reductions and thereby build industry confidence. While very ambitious given current costs, the industry considers that array-scale installations of at least 200 MW could potentially achieve £100/MWh in typical UK resource locations by 2025 for tidal stream, and by 2030 for wave energy. At this cost, marine energy could begin to make a meaningful contribution to the UK energy mix. A medium deployment scenario suggests that, if costs fall, the UK could install around 4 GW (range of 0–8 GW) of wave energy and 2.5 GW (range of 0–5 GW) of tidal stream by 2050 (Table 12). Reaching the desired cost reduction

will require an increasing scale of demonstration, combined with targeted R&D. LCICG members have worked to identify areas where public support will be critical to removing barriers to innovation and supporting the breakthroughs required to drive the necessary cost reduction.

Priorities for Public-Sector

Investment

The priority areas for continued or future actions led by LCICG members are

outlined below. In addition to these specific activities, public intervention will aim to increase collaboration and integration of RD&D and join up innovation programmes with supply chain and infrastructure

development.

Demonstration of wave devices Public investment is required to build confidence in operation and reliability, and to attract inward commercial investment, continuing the progress of the Wave Hub testing facility, the Scottish Marine Renewables Commercialisation Fund

(MRCF) and WATERS39 _programmes.

Continued or enhanced delivery of this priority would require public funding in the high £ millions.

Initial deployment of first arrays First arrays are a critical step in

demonstrating a viable cost reduction pathway. Public investment would build on the work of DECC’s Marine Energy Array Demonstrator (MEAD), NER300 and similar programmes. Initial arrays will be tidal stream demonstrators with wave energy and second generation tidal stream expected to follow. Delivery of this priority would require public funding in the high tens of £ millions.

R&D to address challenges identified in first arrays

Opportunities for cost reduction will arise in supporting sub-technology areas. These include cabling, installation,

deployment and device interaction, which can all be improved for future devices and deployment. Public investment in collaborative R&D will be required to fully capture these cost reduction opportunities. The Marine Energy: Supporting Array Technologies programme, which is supported by the Technology Strategy Board, Scottish Enterprise and the Natural Environment Research Council, is investigating some of these areas along with the MRCF. The Marine Farm Accelerator and Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult will provide a platform for further collaboration. Delivery of this priority would require public funding in the low tens of £ millions.

Operational improvements: health and safety, resource characterisation, and standardisation

These areas are critical to building a safe, mature and commercially viable industry; improvement would promote general confidence in marine energy. Without specific public sector investment, immaturity in these areas could become a barrier to technology development. More effective operations and maintenance also

Part 2 – The Innovation Needs of Key Technologies 73

has the potential to increase yield and reduce the cost of energy. Delivery of this priority would require public funding in the low £ millions.

R&D for pipeline of second generation tidal stream technologies and novel wave devices

On-going R&D is required to drive the step changes critical to meeting the full cost reduction potential of marine energy. Activity would build on the SUPERGEN UK Centre for Marine Energy Research. For tidal stream energy, R&D is required on platform and second generation deep-water technologies, as well as first generation scale up. For wave energy, novel concepts could drive future cost reductions at the component and device level. Delivery of this priority would require public funding in the high £ millions.

Towards deployment of first commercial- scale farms

Investment would be required to build on the successful demonstration of early arrays, to prove commercial viability and de-risk deployment at scale. Activities could include on-going testing, related shore and sub-sea infrastructure, and associated R&D activities to reduce costs and encourage deployment. This would build on the outcomes of MEAD, NER300 and other support for early-stage arrays. Delivery of this priority would require public funding in the high tens of £ millions.

For a more in-depth discussion, please see the Technology Innovation Needs Assessment: Marine Energy Summary Report (published August 2012).